


When The Road Gets Rough Ahead

by flowerfan



Category: Glee
Genre: Canon Compliant, Family, Friendship, Gen, season six
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2015-08-25
Packaged: 2018-04-17 06:05:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4655457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowerfan/pseuds/flowerfan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It doesn't necessarily become any easier to make friends when you're all grown up.  A story about Carole and Pam.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When The Road Gets Rough Ahead

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place after 6x08.

It's a few weeks after the wedding when Carole runs into Pam at the grocery store. Carole is already late for dinner, but she can't help but go over to Pam and tap on her the arm to get her attention.

"Pam? Hi, how are you?"

Pam's expression is blank for a minute, then it shifts into a broad smile. So that's where Blaine gets his show face, Carole thinks. "Carole, hello."

They do that stiff hug and sort of cheek kiss thing, and Carole steps back, aware that she and her cart are pretty much blocking the entire cereal aisle. "I was thinking, we should get together for coffee, or something. We never really have a chance to talk."

This was true. Even in the past when both families got together, the focus always seemed to be on the boys. And since the breakup and Blaine's (and then Kurt's) return to Lima, they hadn't even seen each other, not until the surprise wedding.

"Of course, that would be lovely," Pam replies, her manners as sweet as Blaine's. Pam tells Carole that her phone number has changed, so they hunt around for a piece of paper and a pen in their purses, Carole finally scribbling the number on the back of a dry cleaning receipt.

Carole rushes off, promising herself that she will call Pam and set something up soon. 

Best intentions aside, it's almost a week before she does it. She is sitting at the kitchen table, not really wanting to have a conversation, but knowing she has to reach out. Pam is unlikely to do it, especially after Carole promised she would. Suddenly the solution dawns on her, and she quickly texts Pam, throwing out a few possible times to meet. So that's why the kids like texting so much, she thinks, smiling to herself.

But Pam doesn't respond, and Carole wonders if she doesn't like texting. She waits a few days and tries again. This time she gets a polite response, Pam explaining that she's really busy with work, maybe another time. 

Carole knows Pam has had a rough year - first her husband leaving so abruptly, and then Blaine dropping out of NYADA and coming home. Witnessing Blaine's heartbreak had to have been painful, too. And she knows that maybe Pam is feeling a little awkward in regard to all things Hummel at the moment.

But she's family now. Carole has taken so much comfort from the realization that the new family she has become part of over the past few years is really her family. She doesn't know what she'd do without Burt, and Kurt and Blaine are more sweet and supportive than boys their age have any right to be. Pam deserves to feel part of their new family, too.

Carole pages through the newspaper, looking for some event to invite Pam to, maybe a movie or a show. She thinks about Blaine, how he used to show up at their door at all hours of the day and night, backpack filled with supplies to help Kurt (or Finn, or Sam) out with whatever school project was getting them down. And then she has an idea.

**From Carole: I totally understand about work, no problem. But I've got to accompany Burt to a fundraising dinner in a few weeks, and I was hoping you could help me with something before then.**

Pam answers almost immediately.

**From Pam: Oh? With what?**

**From Carole: Well, the drugstore isn't carrying the foundation I like any more, and Kurt keeps saying my colors are all wrong. Maybe you could give me some hints?**

Before she knows what hit her, they've scheduled lunch at Pam's house, after which Carole gets a makeover, a full array of Mary Kay samples, and a sincere lecture on not buying beauty products at the drugstore. Pam makes Carole promise to "put her face on" herself before their next lunch date, so that Pam can evaluate whether these are the right products for everyday use, or whether anything needs to be adjusted.

And if Carole winds up wearing more make-up than she ever has before, and if she and Pam become regulars at Breadstix, well, sometimes you just have to make sacrifices for family.

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from the lyrics to Randy Newman's "You've Got a Friend in Me."


End file.
